BJP sees 'anarchy'in T.N., Cong. chides call for President's rule

By Our Special Correspondent

NEW DELHI, JULY 2. The release of the two Union Ministers in Chennai did little to prevent the BJP and the Congress from taking up the cudgels for their allies. Mr. Venkaiah Naidu, Union Minister for Rural Development, issued an oblique warning saying that the Centre was studying the situation and would `act appropriately at the appropriate time and it will not be too late'.

The Congress called for a code of conduct for Union Ministers visiting the States.

The Congress once again voiced its opposition to the demands for the imposition of President's rule in Tamil Nadu. In its view, the incidents in the State did not amount to breakdown of ``the constitutional machinery''. The party chided those making such a demand. ``Those making such a demand are neither being impartial nor objective,'' said the party spokesperson, Mr. Jaipal Reddy.

He also referred to the video tape released by the Tamil Nadu police and said that it ``showed that there was more than one side to the story''. The party, however, refused to be drawn into the issue of the release of the two Ministers. ``We are not interested in getting into the charges against the two Union Ministers.''

The BJP, on the other hand, came down heavily on the AIADMK Government. Speaking to newspersons at the party headquarters, Mr. Venkaiah Naidu described the situation in Tamil Nadu as `anarchic'. The Centre, according Mr. Naidu, was duty- bound to ensure that the rule of law prevailed and ``would not be a silent spectator and allow anarchy to prevail in the State.''

Mr. Naidu said the decision to arrest the two Ministers had brought the State Government in confrontation with the Centre. If such a situation was allowed to prevail no Union Minister would be safe.

The Government's decision to recall Ms. Fathima Beevi also came in for severe criticism from the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP). Its general secretary and former Solicitor-General, Mr. Devendra Dwivedi, described the decision as a `retrograde development'. He also charged the Vajpayee-led NDA Government with `subverting the Constitutional and political process for short-term partisan personal ends'.

Describing the developments in Tamil Nadu as ``competitive irresponsibility'', Mr. Dwivedi also regretted that Ms. Jayalalithaa, who was herself a victim of vendetta, had resorted to the same methods. However Mr. Dwivedi saw little merit in the NDA's charge that the arrests amounted to breakdown of the Constitutional machinery. He pointed out that under the Constitution only the President and Governor enjoyed legal immunity.

Picking holes in the NDA case, Mr. Dwivedi said the two were not arrested while discharging their duties as Union Ministers and the validity of the charges against them had to be decided by the courts and not the Central Government. He also pointed out that under the Constitution, the State Governments were not subordinate to the Centre nor was it the duty of the Central Government to supervise the working of the States. The Supreme Court had observed ``that the States were as sovereign in their sphere as the Central Government.''

Mr. Dwivedi also questioned the right of the Union Government to issue a directive to the State Government. ``There is no scope for adventurism in the Constitution nor is there a provision for the Centre to direct the States,'' the NCP leader added.

Send this article to Friends by E-Mail

Section  : Front Page
Previous : SC hearing on Karunanidhi arrest on July 9
Next     : Jayalalithaa effigy burnt in Vavuniya